Aquarium Lighting

Aquarium lighting makes it possible to fully appreciate the beauty of the fish and the aquascaping in the tank. It also provides necessary illumination if you choose to use live plants.

Assuming the location for the tank has been chosen carefully, tank lighting will allow you to control the amount and duration of light the aquarium receives. For all these reasons, the aquarium hood, which contains the light fixture, is an essential component.

The hood fulfills several functions in addition to providing illumination for the tank. It minimizes the evaporation of tank water and it prevents dust and other items from entering the tank easily.

It also stops most fish from jumping out of the tank. Some fish, however, manage to jump through even very small spaces in the hood, in places where equipment is set up. The back of most hoods contains precut openings for filters and heaters. These openings can be pushed or cut out as needed. If they are larger than the items they are intended for, a fish may find its way through the extra space. As a general rule, this only happens if the fish is already under considerable stress.

Many hoods come equipped to accept incandescent light bulbs. These can be adequate for illuminating the tank, but they do have drawbacks.

Aquarium Plants

Live plants can add beauty to any aquarium and are good for the fish as well. Fish feel more secure when there are plants to hide in. Some fish will spawn among plants, and vegetarian species will eat plants. 

Because you are not likely to want your aquarium plants eaten, you will either have to avoid vegetarian species or use plastic plants instead. 

Many species of live plants will do well in an aquarium, but some do better than others depending on the water chemistry and the amount of light.

Do not use house-plants in an aquarium. They will not last long and will contribute to water quality problems as they begin to decay.

Unfortunately, some dealers are not familiar enough with live plants to always know whether the plants they carry are truly aquatic species or not. A good book on aquarium plants is very helpful in this regard and will also provide extensive information on the care and maintenance of plants.

Live plants compete with algae for nutrients in the water, and therefore limit their growth. Many hobbyists think algae are unattractive, but they are a natural part of any aquatic ecosystem and can provide food for some species of fish.

Aquarium Water Test Kits

Aquarium water test kits are an important item for hobbyists to keep on hand. The water you pour into the tank has several characteristics that you need to consider. 

These include the pH, how hard or soft it is, and any chemicals that may have been added that could endanger the fish.

In addition, the fish introduce other compounds into the water that will slowly reduce the water quality. Looking at the water tells you nothing about its chemistry and very little about its quality.

Monitoring water chemistry and water quality requires test kits. It is surprising how many people will spend a substantial amount of money for an aquarium setup but balk at spending a few extra dollars for three basic test kits -- ammonia, nitrite, and pH.

There are actually many more types of test kits available, but these three are the minimum needed to check the water. Other kits test for nitrate, copper, chlorine, dissolved oxygen, and more.

There are differences in test kits that you will want to take into consideration when choosing them. Some kits have liquid components, or reagents that test the water and others have dry reagents. As a rule, dry reagent kits have a longer shelf life and are more reliable than kits with liquid reagents.

Aquarium Water pH Levels

Understanding aquarium water pH levels is important, not only to have an idea of what it is but also to compare later with the tank water to judge how things are functioning in the tank. 

A simple aquarium water test kit will provide a reasonably accurate reading of the pH. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14, and for monitoring aquarium water, you need to work in increments of tenths.  

A pH value of 7 is the midpoint, which means the water is neutral. As the pH values go down from this midpoint, the water is increasingly acidic; as the value goes up from the midpoint, the water is increasingly alkaline.

A change of one whole number (i.e., 7.5 to 6.5) actually represents a change in acidity or alkalinity of 100 times. Many aquarium fish that originate from South America prefer softer, more acidic water, whereas fish from East Africa do best in hard, alkaline water. These are just two examples.

 

Unless you intend to breed a species that is very particular about water chemistry, you will find that the stability of the pH in an aquarium is far more important than the exact value. Large, rapid changes in pH are often fatal to fish. Any change greater than 0.2 in a 24-hour period will cause physical stress for most fish.

Hard and Soft Aquarium Water

You should know if your tap water is hard or soft so you can adjust it if necessary for your aquarium. Hard water has a high content of certain minerals -- magnesium, calcium and iron salts -- and soft water does not.

The biggest concern with tap water, though, is what the city water department puts in it. Most municipal water companies add chlorine or chloramine to the water to kill certain bacteria that are harmful to people. Unfortunately, these chemicals are themselves harmful to fish and must be removed from the water.

Every pet store has a selection of chemicals that will easily dechlorinate the water. For dealing with chloramine, however, you need something a little different. Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia. When a normal dechlorinator is used at double the recommended amount, it will break the bond between these two compounds, neutralizing the chlorine but releasing the ammonia. The added ammonia may be more than the nitrifying bacteria in your tank's biological filter can handle.

The only way to handle this problem is to use a one-step water conditioner designed to handle chloramine. This product will break the bond between chlorine and ammonia and neutralize both.